If you're familiar with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (and if not, then you should be), then you'll know that Link is able to control the direction of the wind, among other things, with the game's magical baton known as the 'Wind Waker'.
Originally, however, the Wind Waker was intended to be much more complex in design. Indeed, it was initially based on the theremin, an electronic musical instrument that can be played without any physical contact. As explained by Did You Know Gaming, the team behind the game became familiar with the theremin after a documentary examining the life of inventor Leon Theremin premiered in Japan around the time of development.
The idea was that you would place the GameCube pad down upon a flat surface and use the palms of your hands to manipulate the left analogue stick and the c-stick, thus replicating the movements required to play a theremin. Ultimately, however, Nintendo veteran Shigeru Miyamoto took one look at the idea and shot it down about mid-way through development. Eiji Aonuma had the following to say, translated from an interview in the Japanese publication Nintendo Dream:
"He'd play what we made and point out what was weird. We had the Wind Waker item ready to some extent, when Miyamoto came to me shaking his head saying "no, no, no". He talked about how it was "entirely unacceptable"; we were using both sticks at first, adjusting with both hands like how you would play a theremin. But eventually, we changed it to the baton, and everything else fell into place from there."
We have to admit, using both analogue sticks to control the frequency and amplitude of the music definitely sounds a bit needlessly complex, so we're thankful for the instrument we got in the end!
In the same video, it's also revealed that Miyamoto wasn't too keen on the visual style for The Wind Waker either. You can read more about that here.
Would you want to see a theremin used in a future Zelda game at all? Share you thoughts in the comments below!
[source youtube.com]
Comments 26
I've never heard of a theremin before, but after seeing what one looks like, I would love to see a Nintendo game based around it.
Theremins are pretty cool. Probably most well known from Good Vibrations.
"If you're familiar with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (and if not, then you should be)"
Considering TWW only released on 2 failing plattforms there are probably a lot of people who aren't familiar with the game lol
Theremins are mint. I would definitely recommend seeing Pamelia Stickney live for what you can do with one
On today's episode of 'Things I never knew existed but now I do thanks to Nintendo'....
It does have a lovely sound though, I can understand why they were close to choosing it as the main centrepiece instead of a conducting wand.
@mariomaster96 2 pub-quiz-trivia articles in the last couple of days suggest that news of the Switch port may be imminent. Either that or there's precious little actual news at the moment.
I've always wanted a Theremin...
but I could never get my hands on one.
Sounds like a faff, glad Miyamoto shot this down.
I got a theremin about 15 years ago. It’s a neat novelty, but I can play it now just as well as then, honestly. Feel like Miyamoto was wrong here though
I don't know. They could always explain it with magic or weird ancient technology but I feel like a theremin is extremely out of place in The Legend of Zelda, even if we got a photo camera in the same game
This would've been an... interesting instrument to use. I like the idea, but I'm not sure how the execution would've worked with the masses.
Still it's fun to think of titles like "The Legend of Zelda: The Twee Theremin".
@Bobb I agree. A camera doesn't have to be electronic, but a theremin does. The type of sounds it makes wouldn't really fit either. It might work in Breath of the Wild, but not for Wind Waker.
Funny coincidence because I just bought one of these in Animal Crossing earlier today and had no idea what it was, which reminded me to look it up.
I've been obsessed with theremins (and that documentary made me even more obsessed) for years, and yet I still haven't gotten around to owning one. Possibly because I can make the same sound with my mouth. Still, I wish theremins got more of the respect they deserve in the public's hive mind. One of my favorite bands uses a theremin, and I'm sure their other tens of fans would agree!
Too bad it wasnt the legend of Zelda the "wind walker*"..
I’m glad they went with the baton instead. It’s more wizard wand-ish. I’m not a big fan of the theremin sound. I suppose they could’ve made it sound like whatever they want though.
Could have been interesting.
The theremin an interesting choice of instrument, but I'm glad Nintendo decided not to go with it. After hearing the instructions, it looked like it would be a pain having to set down and position your hands over the controller every time you want to play a song.
I can feel the the uncomfortableness and wrist cramps that this would cause if you did this frequently. Like to change the wind direction, the infamous song that lowered a lot of people's opinions for Wind Waker due to how often you had to play it. This would have been more of a disaster sales wise than before as fewer people would be in favor of the game. So overall, Nintendo made the right choice to go with the baton instead.
Wind Waker, sail boat, ocean, beaches, Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds... theramin. It was there all along, how did we not see it?!?
I love the theremin. It's the instrument that almost no science fiction movies ever used but almost all of them wanted the sound of, so they used other electronics and instruments to duplicate it. This would have been more than a little odd in Zelda, though.
I had to go look up what that was. Pretty neat, but wouldn't wanna use it in a Zelda game.
Tbh, I don't see the appeal of the baton in WW either.
@CharlieGirl I see what you did there.
My brother made a theremin in high school, they’re fun to play around with! Miyamoto needs to get out more!
@Link-Hero how would the game defect where your hands are if you're not touching the controllers?
@JoyousCreeper
Huh? You had to use both joysticks at the same time on the Gamecube controller to mimic the theremin. Did you watch the video?
@Link-Hero you said that you would have to set down the controller
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